Tobacco Products Directive dates confirmed

The Department of Health has responded to a consultation on the revised Tobacco Products Directive, confirming the dates for the introduction of stricter controls on tobacco packaging, pack sizes and electronic cigarettes.

From May 2016, there will be a minimum pack size of 20 cigarettes and a minimum weight of 30g for roll-your-own tobacco.

Text and pictorial health warnings will cover 65% of the front and back of packs. They had previously covered 30% on the front and 40% on the back of packs.

Retailers will not be able to sell product that does not comply with these new stipulations from May 2017.

A ban on cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco containing characterising flavours such as menthol will be introduced in May 2020.

In November 2016, new regulations will come into force requiring e-cigarettes to carry a health warning.
The sell through period for retailers with existing stock will be a period of six months to May 2017.

Lincolnshire: Patient’s anger at smokers in foyer of hospital

A patient at a Lincolnshire hospital says he is fed up with seeing people smoking in the foyer area of the hospital.

Terrance Davis claims he sees smokers gathering near the entrance of Boston Pilgrim Hospital after 4pm when he says staff are not about to monitor it. Mr Davis, who had a heart attack last year and suffers respiratory problems, said he also often saw pregnant women smoking on the hospital grounds.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust said that although there were strict designated smoking areas, it was often difficult to enforce.

Waltham Forest: Council will stamp out illicit tobacco trade

Trading Standards in Waltham Forest have announced a crack down on illicit tobacco.

Waltham Forest Council commissioned a survey which revealed support for authorities taking more action against illicit sales.

The survey, which asked more than 1,200 members of the public about their experiences of being offered or buying cheap tobacco, and what they felt the impacts of this trade were on local people, found that 56 per cent agreed that the availability of cheap tobacco made it easier for children to take up smoking. And, 52 per cent agreed that its availability made it more difficult for smokers to try to quit.

A Chartered Trading Standards Institute national tobacco survey, published last month, has shown a 26 per cent increase in people reporting illegal tobacco sales to local councils. The survey also found that illegally manufactured cigarettes are unlikely to contain self-extinguishing properties, designed to prevent a dropped or discarded cigarette from causing fires.

A fraudster who used Facebook to sell counterfeit tobacco was arrested during an undercover sting. Callum Davies, 19, appeared at Caernarfon Magistrates Court and admitted two offences under trade mark laws.

Davies was given a 12-month community order, instructed to complete 50 hours unpaid work and to pay £760.

The case was brought by Gwynedd Council ’s Public Protection Service who discovered Davies had previously offered to supply a large quantity of rolling tobacco via his Facebook page and local “buy/sell sites”.

Following an operation by Trading Standards officers Davies was arrested by North Wales Police whilst attempting to supply a large quantity of hand-rolling tobacco to an undercover official.

Analysis of the tobacco revealed it was counterfeit and its sale was in breach of regulations.

Spain: The impact of the smoking ban, five years on

On January 2, 2011, Spain finally banned smoking in bars and restaurants. The new legislation came into force amid the country’s worst economic crisis in a lifetime, prompting protests from the hospitality sector, as well as complaints about establishments allegedly in breach of it.

But despite those complaints, the general public seems to have backed the ban.

FACUA, Spain’s consumer watchdog, says it initially received hundreds of complaints about bars and restaurants failing to respect the new laws, but that in the intervening five years, the number of such reports has fallen to around one a week.

But organization spokesman Rubén Sánchez adds that regional authorities are not meeting their responsibilities and are relaxing controls.

Juan Páramo, the director general of ADELTA, which represents Spain’s tobacco industry, agrees smoking habits have changed in Spain as a result of the law, noting that cigarette sales have fallen by half since 2008, when the first anti-smoking measures were introduced.

A seemingly harmless picture of a BP service station near the Central Coast has sparked a conversation on social media suggesting that the petrol giant is engaging in subliminal advertising for cigarettes.

On closer inspection of the photo he took of the store in Morisset, Twitter user Rupert Hanson noticed the pylons used along the footpath were painted white with an orange top, strongly resembling cigarettes.

Twitter and Reddit users flooded the image with comments, leaving Rupert ‘completely surprised’ at how many agree with his suggestion of subliminal advertising.

A BP employee said the posts had been white and orange for the eight years she has worked for the company.

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